More Articles

The Dispatch E-Edition

All current subscribers have full access to Digital D, which includes the E-Edition and
unlimited premium content on Dispatch.com, BuckeyeXtra.com, BlueJacketsXtra.com and
DispatchPolitics.com.
Subscribe
today!

WASHINGTON — Americans borrowed more in February to buy vehicles and attend school, but they
were more careful with their credit cards.

The Federal Reserve said yesterday that consumer borrowing rose $18.2 billion in February from
January. The January increase from December was $12.7 billion.

The increase brought total borrowing to a seasonally adjusted $2.8 trillion. That’s up from
$2.78 trillion in January, and a record.

Nearly all the gains were in a category that covers student and auto loans. That grew by $17.6
billion, up from an $11.1 billion gain in January.

Consumers stayed cautious with their credit-card debt in February. That category increased just
$533 million, after a gain of $1.7 billion in January.

The credit report doesn’t separate auto loans from student loans. But according to quarterly
data compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, student-loan debt has been the biggest
driver of borrowing since the recession ended in June 2009. It rose to $966 billion in the fourth
quarter of 2012.